DARPA’s Alpha Dog starts boot camp

You may remember reading our report on Boston Dynamics’ LS3 Alpha Dog project, a four-legged bot that the company was contracted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to build. The task assigned to Boston Dynamics was to create a way to relieve American soldiers from the the burden of carrying the almost 100 pounds of gear that they need while in the field. Now, a few months later the Alpha Dog has reached the point where it’s ready to enter basic training, as showcased in the video above.

Obviously from watching the video you will notice that the robot while functional, isn’t exactly ready for live action in its current state. For one, the Alpha Dog is loud, it would be hard for a unit of soldiers to not give away their position to the enemy when using it. Surely this will be improved upon before the live field tests that are scheduled 18 months from now.

The Alpha Dog is capable of carrying up to 400 pounds of gear, while negotiating steep and hazardous terrain. Its “brain” is capable of detecting obstacles such as rocks or rubble, allowing it to be able to either go around them or find a way over.

During the next 18 months, Boston Dynamics will work to make the robot capable of traveling 20-miles in a 24-hour period without having to refuel. Also, the company will be adding voice recognition to allow Marines to be able to give audible commands to control the Alpha Dog.

Right now however, the robot is able to recharge mobile devices on the go, which would keep the iPod’s and mobile phones in the squadron playing “Fortunate Son” for a long time.